For further information please contact: Sergeant Brent J. Bernhardt
(660) 385-2132
B11068
June 13, 2011

EMPHASIS: U.S. Highway 36 Dedication Honoring Fallen Trooper William R. Brandt


Captain James E. Wilt, commanding officer of Troop B, Macon, announces on Wednesday, June 22, 2011, a dedication ceremony and reception will be held to dedicate a portion of U.S. Highway 36, 1.7 miles west of the intersection of U.S. Highway 36 and Route O, in Macon County, as the “Missouri State Trooper William Brandt Memorial Highway”.

The dedication ceremony will begin at 10:00 a.m. at the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Troop B Headquarters, located at 308 Pine Crest Drive, Macon, Missouri. This ceremony will honor Trooper William Brandt who tragically lost his life in the line of duty on June 12, 1970, when a tornado blew his patrol car into a concrete bridge abutment on U.S. Highway 36, near Bevier, Missouri. Trooper Brandt was a native of Brunswick, Missouri, and had been appointed to the patrol in 1968. He was the tenth member of the Missouri State Highway Patrol to lose his life in the line of duty.

Missouri State Representative Tom Shively was the sponsor of House Bill No.1941, which was passed during the 95th General Assembly in 2010, and was signed into law by Governor Nixon. The bill in part designated portions of two Missouri highways in memory of Missouri State Trooper William Brandt and Corporal Dennis Engelhard. Funds to purchase and erect the new signs were provided by the Missouri State Troopers Association in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Transportation.

The public and media are invited to attend the ceremony.
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